Kitchen & Drink Blog

For the fourth year in a row, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants will be participating in Negroni Week from June 5-11, when bars and restaurants across the country will be mixing classic Negronis and Negroni variations for a great cause. Sponsored by Campari, Negroni Week ensures that one dollar from every Negroni sold this week will be donated to Inspire Artistic Minds, a charitable organization that provides opportunity scholarships and educational experiences to advance the arts in the areas of taste, sight and sound, with a strong focus in the food and beverage industry.

According to Andrea Hoover, beverage operations manager for Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, the Negroni cocktail is a slightly bitter concoction, and is typically made of one part gin, one part vermouth rosso (red, semi-sweet), and one part Campari, garnished with orange peel. Hoover said the Negroni is often considered an apéritif, which an alcoholic beverage taken before a meal to stimulate the appetite.

The Negroni traces its roots back the drink back to Florence, Italy in 1919. According to folklore, the cocktail was born when an Italian bartender responded to a flamboyant count’s request for a stiffer riff on an Americano cocktail (a much-tamer mix of Campari, sweet vermouth, and club soda). The patron, Count Camillo Negroni, picked up a taste for strong liquor while working as a rodeo clown in the American Wild West. The bartender added gin rather than the normal soda water and an orange garnish rather than the typical lemon garnish to signify that it was a different drink.

Nine locations will be participating in Negroni Week, with each creating a Negroni that reflects the unique style of each location: